âprocesses: living paintingsâ is a 35 by 16 meter full faÃ§ade projection with a corresponding light choreography, ambient music and synced sound effects shown on the 2/2/2008 in Jena, Germany. It was especially created for the 100th anniversary of the Phyletic Museum founded by Ernst Haeckel as well as the event âJena illuminatedâ being part of the opening ceremony for âScience City 2008â.

The projection consists of five âliving paintingsâ which turned the Phyletic Museum into an architectural canvas. These âtableaux vivantsâ refer to the accommodated phylogenetic collection which was given to the public by Ernst Haeckel in 1908. Additional inspiration comes from the nearby Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, where Seidel used to study and which, for instance, researches the locomotion of animals. All these impressions of color, movement and form are combined with his personal artistic research into intertwining primordial structures, whirring micro-surfaces, traces of smeared motion-fragments, nostalgic optical aberrations, pulsating mirage shadows as well as biographical reflections.

The faÃ§ade of the museum was immersed in shimmering light by a 35 by 16 meter 2K-video using 3 projectors. To create a connection with the interior, every window was illuminated from the inside and synced with occurrences in the cinematic structure. Reacting sound effects tied everything even closer together. The 5 minute video loop had an unique ambient soundtrack of 17 minutes that shifted constantly, generating singular experiences with every viewing. With this complex technical setup âprocesses: living paintingsâ was breathing life into the museum on that one and only winter night. Its multi-layered complexity freed the audience of around 20.000 to create their personal narrative flow and filled the museums square with a dense cloud of spellbound whisper...